lyman



` A. S. LYMAN. Alr Engm A (No Model.)

(Hommel.) Sheena-sheet 2.

A. S. 'LYM'AN Air Engine. No. 236,954.' Patented Jan. 25,1881.

rfmllllb Mmsses:

To all 'whom 'it may concern:

A f STTS PATENT OFFICE.

nznnsronns LYMAN, 0F New Youn, N. Y.

AIRAENGINE.

f" ysPnerFreAtrIorr'forming part of Letters meent No. 2136,954, datea'January 25, 1881.

Application filed June 22, 1880. (No model.)

Beit knownthat I, `AznL SroRRs LYMAN,

of the city, county, and State of New York,

have invented new and useful Improvements in Air-Engines, of which the following is'a specication. v

This invention relates to that class of hotair en ginesM which are l vcharged with ahigh pressure and-use the same air or gas over continuously by merely lnoviug it back-and 'forth between.thejworking-cylinder and the cooler'and heater of the generator. lts object isto avoid the 'practical Adefects which have prevented the y 4successful introduction of `this' 'class of engines.

Fi gurel represents a vertical central section of the generater A Iand the working-cylinder B. Fig."2 is a vertical central cross-section through Lthe=workingcylinder B when this eugine is usedl for constantly pumping water and also for'doiug other work. Fig.\3 yisa .partial section` through w a' of Fig. 1, showing the airpassages c o c iu the base-plate between the generator and working-cylinder. Fig. f4 -on Sheet 2 is a cross-section, on an enlarged scale, of a short segment of a circlethrough T T ,of Fig. 1, showing the economizer or regenerator M between the outer cylinder, A2, of the geuerator and the cylinder T, in which thevds- -placer A moves up and down. `Fig.5 is an enlarged vertical section, showing theleather packing P P2 of the working-cylinder, also. .the pressure oil-cup N audits connections with', thechamber L2, extending around 'the'work-I in g-cylinder, over thepackin g, and lled .withamixture of plumbago and oil. yFigli is a see- Vtion showing the mode of packing the joints with copper washers E2between4 the ends-of the tubes and the castings, which aredrawn together with such afpressure as -to force the end of the tube into the copper.

Theouter portion of the generator consists of three main parts-viz., the upper part or cooler, which is of cast metal, filled, covered, and surroundedwithwater, W2 W3, the lower parttor heater, F, which is made of heavy cast firon 0r steel, which will endure a high heat,

' gandconuec'ted atv its top flange with the heater of the working-cylinder' B, as shown' yin Fig. 3, and the central part, which is made of light, "strong, lap-welded `sheet iron or steel tube, which will not conduct much heat upward.

This thin tube is screwed intof the flanges M M2, and has a bore considerably larger than the outside ot the displacer H H2, for the purpose of containing the ecouomizer or regenerator M, Fig. 4, between them. The joints between these three parts are rendered air-tight bycopper packing-rings, as shown in Fig. 6.

`Inside the outer case of the generator is the displacer H H2, which is move'dup and down by the rod D as we wish to heat and cool the air. .The upper and lower vportions of this displacer are made of cast meta-l, and the'central portions of thin sheet-metal tube, which will not conduct much heat upward, aud it is`sol'idly packed full of dry lire-clay or other bad conductor ot' heat. Surrounding this displacer H H2 `is the thin sheet-metal tube T. The bore of this tubeis but slightly larger indiameter than the outside of the displacer, so as to allow it t0 move up and down without contact of the surfaces. Wrapped around this tube T, for the purpose ot' forming an econornizer or regenerator, is a lsheet oi' thin metal or series of narrow sheets, one above the other, extending from the bottom of the iiauge M2, Fig. 1, lto the top of the lange'M.V A short segment of one side of the cylinder, showing how the sheets may be vwrapped round and round, leaving very narrow passages for the air between, is shown in larger'size at M, Fig. 4, on Sheet Il: These sheets are, say, one thirty-second of 'aufi inch thick and one sixty-fourth of aniuch apart, easily kept at about this distance by `indentations, forming small projections, as shown, not over one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter at their topsand one sixty-fourth of an inch high on every half-inch square of their surfaces. These projections may be made by passing the thin sheets through rollers properly constructed. This displacer is. raised and lowered by the cam E, (shown above it in Figs. 1 and 2,) with the small friction-rollers R in the camyokes. When used for pumping only, the displacer may be moved by much more simple arrangements.

The working-cylinder. consists, also,y of three main parts-viz., the lower casting or heater, I, the centralpart, K, of lap-welded sheet iron IOO or steel, which will not. conduct mu'ehheat upcasting is bored out and polished, so that the piston or plunger fits it quite accurately while moving up and down in it. The top iiange of this upper portion is shown full size for a small engine in the lower part of Fig. 5, and the working-plnn ger is packed with leather on this flange. To put this part together we rst slide the protecting-washer S2 of brass down over the plunger; then the leather packing P2; then the cast-iron plate No. 2 till it bears rmly upon the leather packing below it. Then we turn into the chamber Lz a thick mixture of plnmbago and oil, filling it full; then slide down the leather packing ring P and the brass protecting-washer S3, and the upper casting No. 3, as shown, upon the top of all; introduce the bolts (not shown) and draw these three plates tightly together, holding the packing-rings rmly in their positions. The pressure oil-cup N2 is connected as shown. Now, when the engine is charged with ten or twenty atmospheres, the plumbago soon fills the pores of the leather packing, so that there can be no leak through it, except, perhaps, of oil and a little plumbago, which may be forced up between the leather and plunger into the groove around the plunger and run off by the tube V into the cup, (not shown,) to be returned into the pressure oil-cup.

The working piston or plungers alsoin three parts. The upper, which is carefully turned oif and polished to work in the leather packing with plumbago and oil, and the lower, which acts as a heater, are preferably of caststeel, and the central part, B, of sheet-metal lap-welded tube, which will not conduct much heat upward, and the space in the plunger between the heater and the cooler is firmly packed with slow-conducting material.

To prevent the oxidation of the metal, the air may be deprived of its free oxygen before being admitted into the engine.

To prevent the accumulation of plnmbago and dust--the result of the wear of the enginethat would in time be packed in the lowest part of the generator and working-cylinder, a small tube with a bore only three-sixteenths of an inch or less in diameter may he passed from the lowest point of the displacer H H2 up through its center, as shown, and nearly through the rod D, then out at right angles just above D, and stopped with a screw-plug or small valve at its end; then, when the cylinder is highly charged and the displacer near its bottom, the valve may be opened and all the dirt near the bottom blown out.

The working-c vlinder may, where the firegrate is only under the generator, be blown out from a tube, arranged as shown in Fig. 1, directly downward.

For the purpose of bringing the air as much as possible in contact with the heating-surfaces with each revolution, the heater of the workingcylinder is also provided with the thin tube like the lower part of T in the generator, nearly titting the lower part of' the plunger, and having a narrow space for the air to iiow between it and the heater, so that as the piston of the engine rises the hot air iiows freely from under the plunger ofthe generator back down through the opening in the bottom of T, in a direction the reverse of the arrows in Fig. 1, again in contact with the heater on all sides from its bottom to its top; thence through the hot-air passages cc e, (shown more fully in Fig. 3;) thence down in contact with the heater I ofthe working-cylinder on all its sides, and up through the opening at its bottom against the piston, thus very thor= oughly heating it. When the displacer is pushed to the bottom the air below it is forced back in contact with the heater F, up through the regenerator, where it leaves most of its heat, and into the cooler above.

In an engine the working-piston of which is eight inches diameter and twelve inches stroke., the plunger of the generator may be about sixteen inches diameter, and with a stroke of three or four inches. The economizer or regenerator is about twenty inches long and sixteen and one-half inches in diameter, or tit'- ty-two inches circumference, made up of sheets of thiu metal, the lower or hottest part being preferably of steel and the upper or coolest part copper. If the sheet metal is wound seven times around the tube T, as shown iu Fig. 4, it requires iifty square feet of this metal and presents a heating and cooling surface of one hundred square feet. Besides these, there are four other surfacesthat is, both sides of roo the tube T and one of the outer cylinder and one of the displacermaking in all one hundred and twenty-tive feet area, which, if the engine is not driven too fast, will do a very large proportion of the work of heating and cooling the air at each revolution, and proportionally less fuel and water and fire-heatin g and water-cooling surfaces will be required.

The object of arranging the engine in this form with the working-cylinder fully open at one end, while the generating-cylinder is closed, is so that we can load the workingplunger, and thus be enabled to charge with a heavy pressure and make it double-acting.

1f we wish to carry ten atmospheres pressure in a working-cylinder eight inches diameter, or fifty inches area, we load it with weights, as shown at P P in Fig. 2, which, together with that of the plunger, pump-rods, &c., shall equal 50 inches X 150 pounds 7,500 pounds. Then, as soon as there is a pressure of air slightly over one hundred and itty pounds per inch in the working-cylinder, it will lift the plnn ger a short distance above the bottom. This extra weight makes the engine double-actin g, besides immensely increasing its power. It may be made of iron, as shown, or stone and sand in a suitable reservoir below; or, where weights would be impracticable, the cranks of two engines may be set one hundred and eighty degrees apart; the engines may be connected with the op osite ends of a rock-shaft; or, better than uy other mode, the supply-reservoir of coude sed IIO IZO

` not heated.

air may extend. over the working-plunger-B, and the plunger of same-.sizel may extend up into it packedwith leatherand lubricated with oil and plumbago, thepressure of cold Aair on the top of this plunger being constantly about Vthe same as that of the air below when it is This balancing the pressure Withi compressed air. possesses a great advantage `over all other modes, as it enables us to veiy greatly increase or lessen the power at a moments notice` by having a reservoir of air at a much higher pressure, from whichthe additional pressure may be drawn, if needed.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1.An air-engine `'having its working-piston in the form of a plunger one end of which projects from its .inclosing-cylinder Where it is` packed, combined with a generator, the plunger of which, acting merely as a displacer, is

entirely inclosed in its cylinder, with its heater' below and cooler above, and with a small rod extending up through the cover for raising andlowering it, substantially as and for the specified purposes.

2. An air-engine having its Working-piston inthe formof a plunger one end of which projects from its inclosing-cylinder where it is packed, combined with a generator, the plunger of which, acting merely as a displacer, is entirely nclosed in its cylinder, with its heater below and its cooler above, and with asmall rod extending up through the cover for raising and lowering it, the working-piston being either loaded with Weights or held down by the pressure of the air in a chamber opposite, so as to balance the 4high pressure and make it double-acting, substantially as specified.

' AZEL STORES LYMAN.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR B. DEMING, WM. H. RIBLET. 

